Seishun no satetsu

Law student Eto goes skiing with the pupil Tomiko to whom he gives extra lessons and starts a relationship with her. His wealthy uncle, who maintains him, wants Eto to marry his daughter, Yasuko. When Tomiko says that she is pregnant, Eto climbs a mountain with her. She wants to persuade him to commit suicide with her, but in their struggle, Tomiko dies alone. Eto passes his law exams and is engaged to Yasuko. One day a detective comes and arrests Eto. Seishun no satetsu is Kumashiro’s first film that was not made under the supervision of the Nikkatsu Studio and it is also not a ‘roman-porn’ film. Kumashiro took on his crew from the Toho Studio, but the camerawork was still done by Himeda Shinsaku. The film differs from the old-fashioned norms and values from the novel by Ishikawa Tatsuzo. The writer is reputed to have left the auditorium furious in the middle of the screening because Eto’s character was portrayed using Kumashiro’s characteristic physical style. Hagiwara Kenichi, who started his career as a singer, plays the leading role in this film and was later to play the lead in other non-‘roman-porn’ films by Kumashiro.